Wednesday, 29 April 2015

Seabourn forms culinary partnership with Thomas Keller

Seabourn has partnered with Michelin-starred chef Thomas Keller, who will create menu items for the Odyssey, Sojourn and Quest cruise ships beginning in early fall.

Thomas Keller

Also, Seabourn and Keller will collaborate on a restaurant that will debut on the Seabourn Quest next year before being expanded to the rest of the fleet, including the new Seabourn Encore, which is due to enter service in late 2016.

Keller has been awarded three Michelin stars for two of his restaurants: The French Laundry in Yountville, Calif., and Per Se in New York. Another restaurant in Yountville, Bouchon, has received one star.

Keller has also authored five cookbooks and is publisher of Finesse Magazine.

"There is really no chef more accomplished or held in higher esteem than Chef Keller, and we are both honored and delighted to have a restaurateur of his stature take our onboard culinary offerings to an even higher level," said Seabourn President Richard Meadows. "His culinary talent and sophisticated cuisine are beyond compare and the perfect match for our guests. We have no doubt our guests will be as excited as we are to taste and enjoy Chef Keller's dishes on our ships."

Seven Seas Explorer pool to have shallow and deep sections

By Tom Stieghorst

The Seven Seas Explorer, a ship scheduled to enter service in summer 2016, will have a T-shaped pool with a large shallow area and a narrower deep section, Regent Seven Seas Cruises revealed on Tuesday.

Surrounding the pool will be a teak deck with loungers. One deck up, circular double loungers with white fabric shades overlook the pool. Also, there will be fixed sunscreens on supports running the length of the pool on either side of the upper deck, providing shade to loungers.

The pool area is mostly white, with teak and blue tile, giving it an elegant contemporary flair.

At the end nearest the pool grill are two hot tubs shaded by large circular sunscreens.

Sheer fabric curtains divide the areas at the far edges of the pool deck into more intimate lounge spaces.

Regent said the Deck 12 sports area features shuffleboard, putting greens, golf nets, a bocce court, paddle tennis and a jogging track.

Rein to leave Carnival Cruise Line

Carnival Cruise Line announced that its vice president of worldwide sales, Joni Rein, will depart after seven years at Carnival. Rein will step down Aug. 15 but consult for Carnival for the balance of the year.

Rein joined Carnival in 2008 as vice president of field sales from the North American office of Costa Cruises, where she had been vice president of sales development. She was promoted to her current title in 2009.

As head of sales, it fell to Rein to rally travel agents, including some who were disenchanted with Carnival, following the Carnival Triumph engine room fire in 2012. Rein spearheaded the Carnival Conversations program, a series of steps to repair agent relations at Carnival and implement more agent-friendly policies.

“My decision to depart the company was a difficult one,” Rein said in a statement, "but I feel it’s the right time with brand and trade sentiment at their current levels and an incredible executive leadership team in place, all of whom I respect tremendously.”

Tuesday, 28 April 2015

American Eagle paddlewheeler launches on Mississippi

Photo Credit: Peter Knego

NEW ORLEANS — In a ceremony held on the bow of American Cruise Linesʼ new American Eagle, Cheryl Landrieu, wife of New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, smashed a bottle of champagne against the shipʼs rail, formally christening the lineʼs second Mississippi riverboat.

As guests watched from the forward decks of the ship, there were speeches from Mitch Landrieu and American Cruise Line CEO Charles Robertson as well as a patriotic a cappella concert by a local trio called the Victory Belles.

Shortly thereafter, as a downpour drenched the Big Easy, the vessel sailed off on its maiden cruise, a-seven night roundtrip Lower Mississippi voyage calling at Natchez and Vicksburg, Mississippi; and St. Francisville, Baton Rouge and Vacherie, Louisiana.

Boasting the largest staterooms of any Mississippi riverboat, the American Eagle and its 2012-built sister ship, the Queen Of The Mississippi, have accommodations that range from 200-square-foot cabins with picture windows to 600-square-foot owners’ suites with large private balconies. Of the 84 all-outside staterooms, 78 have balconies that are accessed via sliding glass doors.

The American Eagle's Sky Lounge. Photo Credit: Peter Knego

The two 150-capacity vessels are the first new paddlewheelers to join Mississippi cruise service since the 436-guest American Queen, now operated by rival American Queen Steamboat Co., was launched in 1995. A third, as yet unnamed vessel with a capacity for 185 guests is expected to join American Cruise Lineʼs Mississippi fleet next year, Robertson revealed.

The American Eagle has five passenger decks and a wide range of facilities, including a showroom; two large, aft-situated lounges; the intimate library, card room and chart room; a putting course; an open-air terrace with exercise machines; open and shaded deck space; a complimentary self-service launderette; three computer terminals; and free WiFi access throughout the ship.

Cruise companies increase focus on pricing discipline

Cruise lines have long been loath to depart from the traditional business model of sailing at 100% occupancy. But recently they have started to test moves away from that paradigm.

In the latest attempt by cruise lines to break the cycle of last-minute discounting to fill ships, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Chairman Richard Fain said that starting in March, the company had stopped cutting prices on close-in sailing dates for all of its brands, including Celebrity and Royal Caribbean International.

Last-minute pricing discipline has become increasingly important because cruise lines admit that late discounting undermines their marketing assertions that only by booking early will passengers get the best fares.

“Depending on the type of cruise, that last minute may be 10, 20 or 30 days out,” Fain said in a conference call with Wall Street analysts. “But from that point on, we will hold our price at the prior level.”

Fain’s pledge applies only to North American itineraries and excludes the two- to four-day cruises, where last-minute sales are part of the typical booking dynamic.

Fain conceded that in the short term, it would mean that some RCCL ships would depart less than full. But he said that in the long run, price integrity would boost the brand and lead to higher revenue.

“It was really important to strengthen our brand, because in the long run it is our brand that is going to drive our yield improvements,” Fain said.

In the third quarter of 2013, Carnival Cruise Line adopted a strategy of holding firm on pricing even if its ships sail at slightly lower occupancies.

“We believe this will make Carnival’s pricing recovery more achievable as we move through 2014,” Carnival Corp.’s then-vice chairman, Howard Frank, said at the time.

Other lines, while stopping short of a pledge to halt last-minute discounting, said they have been doing everything possible to persuade customers to book cruises earlier.

“We don’t have a specific pricing promise, but I can absolutely tell you that our goal is to raise pricing as we get closer to sailing,” said Andy Stuart, president of Norwegian Cruise Line. “It’s a philosophy that my boss, Frank Del Rio, has lived by — a strategy of marketing to fill rather than pricing to fill.”

The time could be ripe for such a strategy. One factor driving last-minute discounting has been the glut of capacity in the Caribbean over the past 12 to 18 months. But starting this month, industrywide capacity in the region began to shrink year over year. With some berths shifting to other markets, cruise lines might have a better shot at maintaining a no-discounting model going forward.

Fain said last-minute discounts have a disproportionately large impact on sales efforts.

“They upset many of our most loyal customers by creating an uncertainty about the prices they pay,” he said. “They cause headaches for our travel agency partners, who don’t know what price they should rely on, and they undermine our brand image.”

Some travel agents have taken note of the philosophy shift at several lines.

“I think Norwegian and Royal are both trying to discount less,” said Debbie Fiorino, senior vice president of CruiseOne/Cruises Inc.

Fiorino said that agencies doing business under the CruiseOne/Cruises Inc. banner have more business on the books for 2016 than they did for 2015 at this point last year, and efforts to encourage early bookings by the cruise lines was one reason.

Other agents said Royal still has room to improve its policy.

“Almost all of our price-drop issues occur in the 30- to 60-day window before sailing, when everyone who booked early is in penalty because that is when Royal is most aggressive,” said Don Baasch, president of Last Call Cruises in the San Francisco Bay area.

Vicki Freed, Royal Caribbean International’s senior vice president of sales, trade support and services, said that by eliminating last-minute discounts, Royal expected to affect the whole psychology of the purchase decision, encouraging earlier action at every stage of the booking cycle.

Beyond eliminating discounts, several lines said they were taking a variety of steps to encourage early booking. These include announcing itineraries earlier, opening ships for booking further in advance and using yield management to encourage early demand.

Rick Sasso, president of MSC Cruises USA, said a new pricing structure introduced at MSC last year was meant in part to encourage early bookings.

“We came out with very aggressive group pricing, which is typically your most advanced cycle of bookings,” Sasso said. “It allows you to be fuller sooner. Then, you come out with an added-value pricing strategy. That has probably become the basis of what most lines are trying to do. So you’re not discounting the price, you’re giving more added value.”

Fain said it is too early to measure the success of the change in close-in discounting practices. But he indicated that the policy is here to stay.

“We think that getting our customers out of this sort of used-car-salesman type of mentality will be good for the brand, good for their experience and therefore lead to larger yields in the long run,” he said.

Wall Street analysts responded favorably to the idea.

In a note to investors, Susquehanna Financial Group analyst Rachael Rothman wrote: “While holding near-in price will cause near-term pain, given it is too late for [RCCL] to make up the difference by marketing its 2015 itineraries earlier, we believe this is the appropriate strategy to reinforce the brand image and improve profitability over the long term.”

Patrick Scholes, an analyst with SunTrust Robinson Humphries, said benefits from Royal’s move could be widespread.

“Getting rid of the ‘used-car-salesman mentality’ and eliminating last-minute deals dovetails with [Frank Del Rio’s] New Deal at Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and could buoy the industry at large,” Scholes said.

Monday, 27 April 2015

For RCCL’s Fain, onboard art helps differentiate sister ships

The giraffe wearing an inner tube, an art piece next to the climbing wall on Anthem of the Seas.

SOUTHAMPTON, England — Hanging on walls, suspended from ceilings, rising from pedestals and platforms, braving the weather on upper decks and turning stairwells into galleries, art is the singular attribute that defines and separates the personalities of the Anthem of the Seas and its structural twin, the Quantum of the Seas.

An astounding variety of media, from bricks to light bulbs, are employed onboard the Anthem, unified by the theme “What makes life worth living.”

Purchasing art for a cruise ship, it turns out, is a bit more complicated than selecting an oil painting to hang above your sofa.

There are a variety of technical as well as aesthetic considerations. For example, there’s little chance your apartment will list or roll or that the art in your home will be touched by hundreds of people every day for decades.

Or, if it’s kinetic or illuminated, that it will need circuitry beyond what’s specified for typical consumer appliances. (click the Video link to watch the Richard Fains artwork explained)

And your backyard fountain probably isn’t programmed to shut down if the ground tilts beyond a certain angle.

Richard Fain, the chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCCL), said during the Anthem’s pre-inaugural sailing that collectively, the art aboard the company’s ships represents a huge investment. RCCL’s spending on art is in “nine digits,” he said, though he also allowed that art is perhaps the only shipboard procurements that appreciate after purchase.

Most onboard art is acquired with the assistance of a consultancy that specializes in corporate art, though some is commissioned directly from an artist.

Over the years, there have been disappointments, even failures.

In 1987, RCCL commissioned a 9-foot-diameter clock that used tiny glass beads to tinkle, rather than chime, the quarter hour. It was for placement in the Sovereign of the Seas atrium. “I saw it work in the artist’s studio,” Fain said. “It was magnificent.”

And that was the last time he saw it work. The artist spent months tweaking it after it was installed. Engineers were brought in. But tinkling was never again heard.

“The head of [subsidiary] Pullmantur said, ‘I’ll make it work.’” But it was not to be. Today, it keeps time on a Pullmantur ship but still doesn’t function as intended.

When RCCL sells a ship, the art does not go to the buyer; it is removed, and sometimes finds a home aboard another ship.

Fain takes a strong personal interest in the art, and he can give nuanced analyses of various pieces, taking note of color saturation, light, movement, texture, technology, artistic intention and, it turns out, functionality. When he was first shown a catalog detailing the art aboard the Anthem (a catalog that was placed in every stateroom), he paused on the page of a large, illuminated piece and told an executive to check out the installation because “there are four lights out.”

Fain sees a “yin-yang” both in individual pieces and in how the Quantum’s and Anthem’s art varies. While the Quantum’s collection is by no means serious, Fain frequently used the word “fun” to describe Anthem art. Perhaps the best examples of how the two differ are the choices of statuary on Deck 15, near the rock-climbing walls. The Quantum has a giant magenta bear, holding on to the deck above; not a serious piece, but not as whimsical as the giraffe wearing an inner tube on the Anthem.

During a “Common Ground” session during the sailing, in which Fain and other executives answered questions, one agent stated, “I’m not interested in art — I don’t really have time to be interested in art — but this really opened my eyes.”

Another asked Fain, “Why a giraffe in a swimsuit?”

The curator-in-chief didn’t miss a beat in responding about what is possibly the most surreal object on the ship.

Southampton cruise terminal opens following major refurbishment

Southampton’s Mayflower Cruise Terminal has reopened following a multi-million pound refurbishment in time for the summer sailing season.

The terminal now features a revamped open plan interior, with expanded security, check in and passenger reception areas.

More than 200 staff have been working on the renovation over the winter. Other improvements to the terminal include additional passenger and baggage x-ray machines and a redesign of the drop-off and pick-up area.

Port operator said the project was critical to ensure Southampton retains its title as Europe's leading cruise turnaround Port amidst a predicted rise in passengers.

An increased number of cruise ships visiting Southampton, coupled with the rising capacity of new ships, means and other brands of the Carnival Group, are expecting passenger volume to increase by 25% at Southampton over the next two years.

Carnival UK port service and government affairs director, Steven Young, said: “The Carnival cruise business at Southampton continues to go from strength to strength and with the introduction of new larger ships such as P&O Cruises’ Britannia, it is important that improvement to the cruise terminals and our passenger journey keeps pace.

“With the reopened Mayflower terminal we aim to keep this as free flowing and stressless as possible.

“The improved passenger lounge, together with increased check in and security areas will allow us to ensure just that and give our customers passing through Southampton the very best passenger experience with reduced congestion.”

ABP Southampton director, Nick Ridehalgh, added: “We are incredibly proud to hold the title of Europe’s leading cruise turnaround port but, as always, we will never rest on our laurels. We are committed to investing heavily in our facilities in order to help port-related businesses grow and provide world-class service to their customers.”

The Mayflower Cruise Terminal is one of four in Southampton and handles calls by ships such as Queen Mary 2, Ventura and newly launched Britannia.

Moe than 280 of Southampton’s 440 cruise ship calls to the port are by brands within the Carnival Group.

Sunday, 26 April 2015

Qatar to charter cruise ships to host World Cup supporters

Cruise ships are to be chartered to help accommodate football supporters at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The Qatar Tourism Authority announced at the Cruise Shipping Miami convention that it would be contracting rooms from cruise companies as a "means of additional accommodation".

The QTA said: “Over the past few years, QTA established a number of strong relationships with international cruise operators as well as with other specialists involved in the industry.

“This has proved to be of great importance especially that Qatar will be extensively benefiting from cruise ships over the 2022 World Cup, as a means of providing additional accommodation supply for fans and visitors over the period.

“QTA will be contracting a minimum of 6,000 rooms on cruise ships for the 2022 tournament, and is building its knowledge base to develop this sector of the maritime industry.”

The Gulf state said it would have 100,000 hotel rooms available for fans, more than the minimum 60,000 required by Fifa, as part of its bid to host the tournament.

Temporary accommodation such as cruise ships could help the QTA hit the 60,000 figure and alleviate the potential for thousands of unoccupied rooms once the tournament comes to a close, City A.M. reported.

Viking Star: The Snow Grotto

The Snow Grotto on Viking Star is the latest unusual treatment feature in a cruise ship spa.

After heating yourself in a steam bath or sauna, you walk into a small room with snow on the floor and benches to sit on. The room is kept at sub-freezing temperatures.

It is supposed to mimic the Nordic bathing tradition that calls for a romp in the snow after a long sauna.

The room is cold, with dark stone walls illuminated by blue light, giving it a winter vibe. I was worried, I have to admit, that it would be uncomfortably frigid, but that wasn’t the case.

I spent about five minutes cooling down in the snow grotto after my sauna, comparing notes with the other guy in the room. He was from Chicago. I grew up in Wisconsin. We both though it was crazy that someone would put this on a cruise ship, yet we both wanted to try it, too.

The room is supposed to release snow flurries periodically from the ceiling, but we weren’t lucky enough to be there for the snowfall. We were lucky enough, however, to have been warned to wear bath sandals. Apparently, the cold snow on bare feet is not much fun.

The snow room is a first for a cruise line carrying North American passengers and fits naturally with the Nordic theme of Viking Star. There is a ferry with routes in the Baltic Sea that has a snow room and Norwegian Cruise Line also has plans to offer one on its next ship, Norwegian Escape.

The future of onboard pools

Norwegian Star Pool and Slides

By Tom Stieghorst

As a kid, it was hard to keep me out of a pool, but now as an adult I’m less and less inclined to go for a swim.

I was thinking about this on a cruise aboard the Viking Star, the new ship from Viking Cruises, which has three pools. The main pool is midship; there is an infinity pool aft and a counter-current pool in the ship’s spa.

I can’t vouch for the third pool, but the other two did not get a lot of use that I could see. Several passengers I talked to agreed, and they had a variety of theories about why.

One was the cool April temperatures, in the 50s for the most part. The Mediterranean will heat up as summer arrives, and that alone might spur more use of the outdoor pools.

Another factor, one older woman confessed, is that she wasn’t too happy with her appearance in a bathing suit. A man said that the pools are overflow dining areas, and the presence of diners inhibited people from swimming.

The main pool on the Viking Star.Photo Credit: Tom Stieghorst

Unmentioned, but undoubtedly a factor, is that Viking does not encourage children as passengers. The 633 guests on my 10-day cruise between Istanbul and Venice were mainly in their 60s and 70s.

I have to think a ship operated by Carnival Cruise Line or Royal Caribbean International in the same timeframe and location would have more pool users based on demographics.

Which leads to the interesting decision by two cruise lines to get rid of swimming pools. Crystal Cruises planked over one of two pools on the Crystal Serenity in favor of a new dining area. And Windstar Cruises recently announced that it will remove the pool on the three ships it is acquiring from Seabourn, also for expanded restaurant space.

No one uses the pool, Windstar CEO Hans Birkholz said bluntly, in announcing the change at Cruise Shipping Miami in March.

It is tempting to think there will always be a pool on cruise ships. Windstar is adding a counter-current pool for exercise even as it eliminates the more traditional pool area.

Viking, which has no pools on its river cruise ships, opted for two outdoor pools on the 930-passenger Viking Star. And on large, activity-jammed ships in the contemporary segment, pools are an integral part of their appeal.

But on smaller ships that cater to mainly to older guests, there’s already been some erosion of the pool’s primacy. It leads me to wonder how much further the trend might go.

Saturday, 25 April 2015

Royal Caribbean boss vows to cut out last-minute discounting

By Lucy Huxley

The chief executive of Royal Caribbean is stamping out last-minute discounts on his cruises in the US and says he would look to extend the new policy to other markets including the UK if it is a success.

The line currently reduces fares 30, 20 and 10 days from departure, a practice that Michael Bayley says "devalues the whole product".

"From 2016, the price will never drop. There will be no discounts beyond 30 days from departure," he said.

Bayley accepted the new stance could lead agents to sell other cruise lines which "continue to discount all the way to departure", but said he would rather lose that business and improve his yields and margins.

"Last-minute discounting just devalues the product and nobody, neither us nor the travel agents, is making any money," he told Travel Weekly during the two-day naming celebrations of Anthem of the Seas in Southampton.

"We are not doing anybody any favours by discounting. We work too hard developing these phenomenal products to then charge too little for them," Bayley added.

"We believe we have the best vacation products in the entire industry, offering customer the best value anywhere, and we believe it's time for our customers to pay a little more for them."

Asked if he felt this would encourage the whole cruise sector to stop devaluing its product, Bayley replied: "This is not about cruising in general. This is purely a focus on Royal Caribbean and what we feel is right for our brand."

Royal Caribbean launched Anthem of the Seas this week and also has Explorer of the Seas coming back from a multi-million dollar refit tomorrow (Thursday).

The line also has Harmony of the Seas launching in spring 2016 and a third Quantum-class ship, Ovation of Seas, coming into service in 2018.

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I never wan't to go cruising but my brother did, and tried his best to get me on one of those things. Owning a Travel Agency in Wales i got very good at selling cruise holidays and researched them over and over. Costa Cruise offered us a 3 night cruise on Costa Mediterranea,Balcony cabin for only £50, and that was it Hooked.

I have my Favourite cruise companies and ones I'd use for a lifeboat, if you know what I mean! I'm not a loyal cruiser to any one company, all the ones I sail one have their own good and better points, such as MSC for the decor, no fake marble to be seen and by far the best looking ships in any fleet.

My Blogs (http://wetravel2u.wordpress.com/ and http://wetravel2ucruise.blogspot.co.uk/) try to tell the story of cruising from a travel agents and fan, informing the latest news about the cruise vessels and any relevant news about agent selling offers. I also have a link to my Flickr account showing not just cruise photos but my holiday pics. onboard and on shore, so please look at them and enjoy; if you want please comment as well.